Korea, a new cathedral on the border to reconcile Seoul and Pyongyang

by Joseph Yun Li-sun

The Church will be inaugurated by Card. Cheong and dedicated to "forgiveness and atonement." Inside mosaics portraying the Christian martyrs, by artists from the north. The Archbishop Emeritus of Seoul: "The building represents the desire for peace, unity and reconciliation that animates the Korean people."

Seoul (AsiaNews) -
A new cathedral dedicated to forgiveness and atonement will be inaugurated on
June 25 on the border separating the two Koreas, on the occasion of the celebrations
to mark the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended the war that divided
the peninsula . According to the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the South, the
new church "wants to be a clear symbol of the desire for peace and
reconciliation in the country."

The place of
worship (see photo) is located in Paju, about 50 kilometers north of Seoul. The
inaugural Mass will be celebrated by Cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk,
Archbishop Emeritus of the capital: "The church - says the prelate -
represents the desire for peace, unity and reconciliation that animates the
Korean people." During the function "we will pray for those who died
in the war and to ask God to grant us serenity." The pastor will be Fr.
Lee Eun-hyung, director of the Episcopal Commission for the Reconciliation of
the Korean people.

Construction of the
building began in 1997, when a group of Catholics who fled from North Korea
decided to buy the land and donate it to their local church for the
construction of a "sign of hope and peace." Since April 2006, the
project has been supervised by the Archdiocese of Seoul, which has funded the
work.

Inside are the mosaics commissioned from artists Mansudae Art Studio, located
in the North: they depict the martyrs of Pyongyang and the province of
Hwanghae, the areas most affected by religious persecution. Instead the
exterior was designed on the basis of the Jinsadong cathedral, built in 1926
and destroyed by communists.

The Center for
National Reconciliation stands beside the church run by the Catholic community.
For several years it has welcomed refugees fleeing the Pyongyang regime offering
them courses for social inclusion and to find a job. Also, new missionaries are
also trained here in religious dialogue and exchanges with the North.

The Director of the
Secretariat of the Archdiocese of Seoul, Fr. Matthias Hur Young-yup, told AsiaNews:
"The most important thing that the Korean Church can do help
reunification, is pray and educate. For years the Commission has been committed
to reconciliation in the field of education, to help the South Koreans to
better understand their brethren in the North and thus reduce communication
problems. Our best hope is dialogue. "